All posts tagged: Nautical inspiration

A nautical playsuit

Remember the darling little halter-neck playsuit from last week? Well, when I sent the toile for it to S. she noticed how much it looked like a sailor suit in white, and liked it so much that she asked me to make her a second playsuit, this one with a nautical theme. I suggested mixing things up a bit, and using a different bodice for the top half of the playsuit, specifically this little cutie from my pattern collection: We settled on blue fabric with a detachable white collar with red trim, and cute blue buttons with ‘X’es on them that remind me of compasses. The bodice top married to the shorts from the original playsuit well, all I had to do was adjust for a back fastening rather than a side fasteningso that she could get in and out of it. To play-up the nautical inspiration I added little white piping at the front pleats. Like the floral playsuit, this one has a skirt to button over it. I made this skirt a little …

The ‘please don’t photograph me’ 1930s-ish nautical skirt

Published by The Dreamstress

Remember how I made a mid-1930s skirt to wear with a nautical outfit for Windy Lindy 2011 way back in August? Well, I’ve been trying to get good images of me in that skirt ever since, and I tell you, that thing just doesn’t want to be photographed. So I’ve finally conceded defeat, and am just showing you some mediocre images. The inspiration for my skirt was a common mid-30s design with outward facing pleats front and back. I can’t find the actual image I used for inspiration, but you Wearing History has posted some images of similar skirts, like this adorable one with lacing (on the right) and a simple one in flat silk crepe (on the left). Like I said, very common design! For my skirt I used the same white cotton with irregular diagonal rib that I used for the 1770s man’s redux waistcoat and breeches. It’s not a period accurate fabric for the 1930s, and the resulting skirt is a bit more structured and tailored than a real 30s example would …

Anchor’s Aweigh: Windy Lindy 2011

Published by The Dreamstress

Saturday night was Windy Lindy 2011, the big event of Wellington’s annual swing calender. The theme this year was ‘Anything Goes’, as in the Cole Porter musical, where anything (and everything) goes on on the SS American. It’s the fourth year I’ve attended Windy Lindy, and every year I’ve shown you my costume, from my saucy Dorothy Gale costume for ‘Pin Ups and Poster Boys’, to my human chicken costume for ‘Freaks’, to last year’s glamourous satin number for ‘Puttin on the Ritz‘. Unfortunately, every year my costume planning seems to happen more and more last minute. Eek! This year I didn’t really thing about it at all until the night before. Double eek! But with some help from the Army Surplus store, my long time obsession with collecting images of nautically inspired fashions, a mad pattern draping and sewing spree, a jacket I made almost a decade ago, and a few random accessories in my dress up box, I pulled together a rather cute outfit (if I do say so myself). I made a …